Trying to save part of Rosie the Riveter’s factory YPSILANTI TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — The Detroit-area factory where Rosie the Riveter showed that a woman could do a “man’s work” by building World War II-era bombers, making her an enduring symbol of American female empowerment, will be demolished if money can’t be found to save it. The Willow Run Bomber Plant, a 332-acre former Ford Motor Co. factory west of Detroit that churned out nearly 9,000 B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II, is sla...

Experts: Unlikely US helped NZ spy on reporter WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. official said Monday that the National Security Agency did not monitor phone conversations between a New Zealand journalist and his Afghan sources, following claims by the journalist that his reporting was monitored by the U.S. intelligence programs revealed by NSA leaker Edward Snowden on behalf of New Zealand’s military. Officials in the intelligence community and experts said if any surveillance was done, it was mor...

Hudson’s Bay buying Saks for about $2.4 billion NEW YORK (AP) — Don’t let the global economy fool you: Luxury is hardly dead. Saks Inc. agreed to sell itself to Hudson’s Bay Co., the Canadian parent of upscale retailer Lord & Taylor, for about $2.4 billion in a deal that will bring luxury to more North American locales. The acquisition combines three department-store brands — Hudson’s Bay, Lord & Taylor and Saks Fifth Avenue— and creates a North American upscale retailing behemoth with 320 ...

Bridge work challenges boaters at site of NY wreck WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) — The barge that was involved in the Hudson River collision that killed a bride-to-be and her fiance’s best man is just a hint of the heavy construction traffic that will challenge boaters during the building of a new bridge in the New York suburbs, experts said Monday. At times during the next few years there could be 90 barges in the river as part of work on the $3.9 billion Tappan Zee Bridge project, said Lt. James L...

Obama, Clinton meet for lunch, sparking 2016 buzz WASHINGTON (AP) — When is a lunch more than just a midday meal? When the two diners are President Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and inquiring minds want to know who, if anyone, the president will endorse in 2016. A summertime meal shared by Obama and his rival-turned-ally threw the political speculation machine into overdrive Monday, highlighting how closely both are being watched for signs of their intentions in the next presidenti...

Gulf ’dead zone’ above average but not near record NEW ORLEANS (AP) — This summer’s “dead zone” at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, where there’s so little oxygen that starfish suffocate, is bigger than average but doesn’t approach record size as scientists had predicted, according to findings released Monday. The area of low oxygen covers 5,840 square miles of the Gulf floor — roughly the size of Connecticut, said scientists led by Nancy Rabalais of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consorti...

Florida apartment gunman described as lonely, angry HIALEAH, Fla. (AP) — The gunman who went on a shooting rampage at his South Florida apartment building, killing six people, was a lonely man who spoke about having pent up anger, those who knew him said Sunday. Pedro Vargas, 42, lived on the fourth floor of a barren, concrete apartment complex in the Miami suburb of Hialeah with his elderly mother. He rarely spoke with others there, and confided to a man who worked out at the same gym that he ...

Pending sales of US homes slip from 6-year high WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans who signed contracts to buy homes dipped in June from a six-year high in May, a sign that sales could stabilize over the next few months. The National Association of Realtors said Monday that its seasonally adjusted index for pending home sales ticked down 0.4 percent to 110.9 in June. The May reading was revised lower by a percentage point to 111.3, but it was still the highest since December 2006. Th...

Indianapolis church mourns 3 who died in bus crash INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis congregation on Sunday mourned the deaths of their youth pastor, his pregnant wife and another member who were killed when a church bus overturned with just a mile to go in a return trip from a Michigan summer camp. Saturday’s accident devastated members of Colonial Hills Baptist Church, who had been anticipating a joyful homecoming with the 37 people who were aboard the bus. Youth pastor Chad Phelps, his pr...

Pfizer sells key vaccine cheaply to poor countries TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Drugmaker Pfizer Inc. has agreed to provide hundreds of millions of doses of its lucrative vaccine against pneumonia and meningitis at a fraction of the usual price for young children in poor countries. The deal to provide 260 million shots of its Prevnar 13 vaccine for a few dollars each is Pfizer’s third agreement under an innovative program through which pharmaceutical companies, governments, health groups and charities...

Panel backs lung cancer screening for some smokers For the first time, government advisers are recommending screening for lung cancer, saying certain current and former heavy smokers should get annual scans to cut their chances of dying of the disease. If it becomes final as expected, the advice by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force would clear the way for insurers to cover CT scans, a type of X-ray, for those at greatest risk. That would be people ages 55 through 79 who smoked a pack of ...

Sales tax holiday starts SaturdayArkansas’ annual sales tax holiday is just around the corner. On Saturday and Sunday, parents getting ready for the new school year will be able to purchase school supplies, clothing and accessories without having to pay state or local sales tax. In Russellville, that amounts to a nine percent savings. All retailers are required to participate in the tax holiday. Exempt from tax are clothing and footwear priced less than $100 per item, clothin...

Heavy rains flood homes, roads in North Carolina CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A system of thunderstorms across western North Carolina stalled on Saturday and dumped about a foot of rain on the area, causing power outages and flash floods that swamped homes and washed out roads and bridges. There were 18 reports of swift-water rescues, and one minor injury, said Jim Dickerson, spokesman for Catawba County Emergency Services. He did not have details. Hickory Mayor Rudy Wright urged residents to stay...

Manslaughter charge filed in Hudson boat crash PIERMONT, N.Y. (AP) — A deadly nighttime speedboat crash on the Hudson River hurled a bride-to-be and her fiance’s best man into the water and left the groom and three others injured, including a friend charged with vehicular manslaughter on Saturday, just two weeks before the couple was to exchange their vows. Six friends were on board the boat Friday night when it struck a barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge, sending Lindsey Stewart and Mark Le...

Musician JJ Cale dies; wrote Clapton, Skynyrd hits If musicians were measured not by the number of records they sold but by the number of peers they influenced, JJ Cale would have been a towering figure in 1970s rock ‘n’ roll. His best songs like “After Midnight,” “Cocaine” and “Call Me the Breeze” were towering hits — for other artists. Eric Clapton took “After Midnight” and “Cocaine” and turned them into the kind of hard-party anthems that defined rock for a long period of time. And Lynyrd S...

San Diego mayor’s therapy plan flops with critics SAN DIEGO (AP) — Mayor Bob Filner’s announcement that he will undergo two weeks of full-time therapy defies leaders of his own political party who demanded he resign over allegations of sexual harassment. The mayor’s plans failed to appease many who called for San Diego’s first Democratic leader in 20 years to step down less than eight months into his four-year term. Seven women identified themselves as targets of Filner’s unwanted advances th...

Obama and McCain: Washington’s newest odd couple WASHINGTON (AP) — There was no conciliatory phone call, no heart-to-heart talk to soothe the tensions. No one knows exactly when President Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain went from bitter rivals in the 2008 presidential campaign and foes over health care and national security to bipartisan partners. Yet in recent months, an alignment on high-profile domestic issues — not to mention an eye on their respective legacies — has transfo...

3 dead when bus carrying teens crashes in Indiana INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A bus carrying teenagers returning to Indiana from a church camp in Michigan crashed Saturday afternoon just minutes from home, killing three people and sending 26 others to hospitals, officials said. The bus came speeding off of Interstate 465 in northern Indianapolis, about a mile from the Colonial Hills Baptist Church that passengers attended, struck a retaining wall as it rounded a curve and overturned. The campers were...

Gunman kills 6 in Fla. apartment shooting rampage HIALEAH, Fla. (AP) — A man living with his mother in a South Florida apartment complex set their unit on fire and went on a shooting rampage throughout the building, killing six people before being shot to death by police. As the eight-hour standoff unfolded, horrified residents hunkered down in their homes, at times so close to the action they could feel the gunfire or hear negotiations between the gunman and police, authorities and witnesses...

Obituaries: Madison KirkleyCAMDEN — Madison “Maddie” Kirkley became a real angel in the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 24, 2013. She will be greatly missed by her parents, Chad and Jennifer Kirkley; her twin brother and best friend, Triston; her sister, Kyndal; her biological mother, Penny Banks Dew; her brother, Dylan Dew; her grandparents, Randy and Brenda Kirkley and Camille Helms; and her great-grandfathers, F. M. Kirkley and Robert M. Banks. She is survived...